Day: April 29, 2019

Iran says leaving nuclear treaty one of many options after U.S. sanctions move

(Worthy News) – Iran said on Sunday it could quit a treaty against the spread of nuclear weapons after the United States tightens sanctions, while an Iranian general said the U.S. Navy was interacting as before with an elite military unit blacklisted by Washington.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration withdrew last year from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions.

Earlier this month, the United States blacklisted Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

The post Iran says leaving nuclear treaty one of many options after U.S. sanctions move appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Kansas Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on ‘Gruesome’ Dismemberment Abortions

(Worthy News) – The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday blocking a 2015 ban on dismemberment abortions.

The decision prevents the state from enforcing a previously passed law that greatly limited second-trimester abortions.

The Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act (SB 95) was the first in the nation to ban the procedure known as “dilation and evacuation abortions.” [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

The post Kansas Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on 'Gruesome' Dismemberment Abortions appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Economy grew at 3.2% in first quarter, beating expectations

(Worthy News) – The economy grew at a 3.2% annual rate in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday morning, easily beating forecasters’ expectations.

The healthy growth rate in gross domestic product also improved on the 2.2% rate seen in the fourth quarter of 2018, despite several economic headwinds in the first quarter of this year, such as the partial government shutdown and a slowdown in the global economy. The bureau said that the pick-up in growth was driven by stronger state and local government spending and exports.

President Trump has promised sustained 3% annual GDP growth, a promise that was narrowly fulfilled in 2018 — depending on how you measure GDP. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

The post Economy grew at 3.2% in first quarter, beating expectations appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Trump Says U.S. Withdrawing From Treaty Regulating Conventional Weapons

(Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he would withdraw U.S. backing for a treaty that sought to regulate the global trade in small arms and other conventional weaponry.

Trump made the announcement on April 26 at a convention of the most influential U.S. gun rights organization, the National Rifle Association, which had asserted the 2014 treaty posed a threat to gun rights.

The Arms Trade Treaty regulates international trade in conventional weapons, such as small weaponry and hand-held guns. It also regulates the purchase and sale of things like tanks, combat aircraft, and warships. [ Source: Radio Free Europe (Read More…) ]

The post Trump Says U.S. Withdrawing From Treaty Regulating Conventional Weapons appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Iran says it made surveillance flight over US aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf

(Worthy News) – Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards have successfully managed a surveillance flight over a US aircraft carrier, the nation’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday.

The report showed footage apparently from a Guard drone that flew over the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and another US warship in the Persian Gulf. The images showed jet fighters parked on the carrier deck.

The development comes after the US government earlier this month designated the Guards as a foreign terrorist group to increase pressure on Iran and further isolate the country. Iran responded by labeling all US forces as terrorists. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

The post Iran says it made surveillance flight over US aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Christian conservatives are as empathetic as liberals, analysis finds

(Worthy News) – New analysis of research is challenging common stereotypes about politically conservative religious people, who, though thought to be religious and “cold-blooded,” report being as empathetic as political “bleeding-heart” liberals when surveyed.

According to a study examining data from the General Social Survey — a National Science Foundation-funded sociological survey created and collected since 1972 out of the University of Chicago — political conservatives who are highly religious are as likely as political liberals to report similar levels of empathy, such as “having tender feelings of concern for others or being greatly disturbed by the others misfortunes of others,” noted David Briggs, writing Tuesday in the Association of Religion Data Archives.

Obscured by a vitriolic political climate today, the actual attitudes of religious conservatives are much more complicated, he said, as evangelicals are a diverse group of people.

The post Christian conservatives are as empathetic as liberals, analysis finds appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

US to donate additional $500K to restore tomb of biblical prophet Nahum in Iraq

(Worthy News) – The United States announced Friday that it would contribute an additional $500,000 to help restore the tomb believed to be the resting place of the biblical prophet Nahum in the town of Alqosh in northern Iraq.

“Chargé d’affaires Joey Hood and Consul General Steve Fagin visited the Tomb of Nahum, a site rich in cultural importance to the region’s Jews, Christians and Muslims,” the US Consulate General in Erbil announced.

“The chargé announced an additional $500,000 in US government funding to help preserve the historic site. This project helps safeguard history, revitalize the local economy, and bring tourists to the area,” the statement said. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

The post US to donate additional $500K to restore tomb of biblical prophet Nahum in Iraq appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

NYT: ‘Error of Judgment’ to Publish Anti-Semitic Cartoon Featuring Netanyahu as Guide Dog for Trump

(Worthy News) – The New York Times announced Saturday it was deleting an anti-Semitic cartoon from its international edition featuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a guide dog leading a blind Donald Trump.

Netanyahu is depicted with a Star of David collar, while Trump holds his leash and is depicted as blind by wearing sunglasses. The Times said in a statement from its opinion page’s Twitter account that it was an “error of judgment to publish it” and admitted it “included anti-Semitic tropes.”

“A political cartoon in the international print edition of the New York Times on Thursday included anti-Semitic tropes, depicting the prime minister of Israel as a guide dog with a Star of David collar leading the president of the United States, shown wearing a skullcap,” the Times said. “The image was offensive, and it was an error of judgment to publish it. It was provided by The New York Times News Service and Syndicate, which has since deleted it.”

The post NYT: ‘Error of Judgment’ to Publish Anti-Semitic Cartoon Featuring Netanyahu as Guide Dog for Trump appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Cyclone Kenneth: Entire villages wiped out, says UN

(Worthy News) – A powerful cyclone has “entirely wiped out” villages in Mozambique, according to a UN official.

Gemma Connell, the head of the regional Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), said it looked from the air like areas had been “run over by a bulldozer”.

Cyclone Kenneth struck on Thursday with winds of 220km/h (140mph). [ Source: BBC (Read More…) ]

The post Cyclone Kenneth: Entire villages wiped out, says UN appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Heavy rains cause massive flooding in cyclone-hit Mozambique

(Worthy News) – Heavy rainfall caused flooding in northern Mozambique on Sunday, just three days after Cyclone Kenneth killed at least eight people and damaged thousands of houses in the southeast African country.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said many houses have collapsed as a result of rising floodwaters in the northern region’s main city, Pemba.

Mozambique’s government urged people in flood-hit areas to seek higher ground immediately to minimize the risk of drowning. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More…) ]

The post Heavy rains cause massive flooding in cyclone-hit Mozambique appeared first on Worthy Christian News.